Penn State Harrisburg Faculty Details
Vita
Steven A. Peterson is Director of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. His areas of research interest include: American Politics, Public Opinion and Voting Behavior, Biology and Politics, and Public Policy (AIDS policy and education policy)
He has authored or co-authored nearly twenty books, among which are Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy; The Failure of Democratic Nation Building: Ideology Meets Evolution, Political Behavior: Patterns in Everyday Life; The World of the Policy Analyst; Human Nature and Public Policy, and over 100 publications, in a wide variety of journals and books. He has served as President of the New York State Political Science Association and the Northeastern Political Science Association. He has served as President of the Council in the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS) and as Vice President and Secretary of Research Committee # 12 (Biology and Politics) of the International Political Science Association. He has served on the Council of the Pennsylvania Political Science Association.
Education
- B.A. Bradley University, 1969
- Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 1974
Research Areas
- American Politics
- Public Policy (Education and AIDS Policy)
- Biology and Politics
- Political Behavior
- State Politics
Professional Affiliations
- International Political Science Association
- American Political Science Association
- Midwest Political Science Association
- Southern Political Science Association
- Northeastern Political Science Association
- International Society of Political Psychology
- Association for Politics and the Life Sciences
- Others
Teaching Areas
- American Politics
- Public Policy and Policy Analysis
- Politcal Behavior
- State and Local Politics
- Political Institutions
Selected Recent Publications
Shaun L. Gabbidon and Steven A. Peterson, "'Living while Black': A State Level Analysis of the Influence of Select Stressors on the Quality of Life among Black Americans," Journal of Black Studies, 37 (2006), 83-102.
Steven A. Peterson, "Evolution, Cognition, and Decision-Making." In Göktug Morçöl (ed.), Handbook of Decision-Making (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2007).
Shaun L. Gabbidon, Lakeisha Marzette, and Steven A. Peterson, "Racial Profiling and the Courts: An Analysis of Federal Level Cases, 1991-2006." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23 (2007), 226-238.
Steven A. Peterson and Shaun L. Gabbidon, "Stressful Life Events and African American Political Participation: A State Level Analysis," Journal of Black Studies, 38 (2007), 142-154.
Steven A. Peterson, "John C. Calhoun and Federalism." In David Schultz (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution (New York: Facts on File, in press).
Steven A. Peterson, "Dr. Bonham's Case." In David Schultz (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution (New York: Facts on File, in press).
Shaun Gabbidon, Lakiesha Marzette, Steven A. Peterson, Nonso Okafo, and Ronald Craig, "The Consumer Racial Profiling Experiences of Black Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities," Journal of Criminal Justice (in press).
Albert Somit and Steven A. Peterson (eds.), Human Nature and Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003.
Albert Somit and Steven A. Peterson, Democratic Nation-Building: Ideology versus Human Nature. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005.
Albert Somit and Steven A. Peterson (editors), "Evolution, Public Goods, and the State," Special Issue of Politics and the Life Sciences (in press).
Curriculum Vita
College News
Sen. Vance to deliver commencement keynote
State Senator Patricia H. Vance will deliver the keynote address when Penn State Harrisburg confers more than 500 undergraduate and graduate degrees during fall commencement ceremonies Saturday, December 19.
The ceremonies for students who have earned associate, bachelor’s master’s, and doctoral degrees will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Giant Center, Hershey.
‘Little Shop of Horrors’ comes to campus Nov. 12 to 15
Little Shop of Horrors, with its man-eating plant Audrey II and toe-tapping music, comes to Penn State Harrisburg’s Olmsted Auditorium for a four-day run November 12 through 15.
Presented by the college’s Capital Players with a cast and crew of 24 undergraduate and graduate students, Little Shop of Horrors takes to the stage at 8 p.m. November 12, 13, and 14 with a 2 p.m. matinee November 15.
Heard on campus – Franklin and the Junto
Penn State Harrisburg faculty member and Benjamin Franklin scholar George Boudreau terms his recent discovery of a long-lost poem written in 1732 as “one of the greatest finds of my career.”
An associate professor of humanities and history, Boudreau’s research interests focus on Franklin and his philosophical organization called the Junto and the role it played in the cultural transformation of Philadelphia in the 1700s. Boudreau recently related his research findings during a Gallery Lounge presentation hosted by the offices of Academic Affairs and Research and Graduate Studies.